Robots and Vamps

Reviewed by Matt

David Mack is jumping into the Urban Fantasy genre with his novel The Calling. Mr. Mack has spent many years writing quality Star Trek novels and television scripts. Will he be able to make the transition into an already crowded field? Will his novel break out from the pack? My answer would be a resounding yes! Mr. Mack has enough experience as a novelist that he does not make the mistakes that a typical new author does with a debut novel. I did have some issues with parts of the book as they are alittle clichéd but overall I really enjoyed this book completely devouring it in 2 days.

Tom Nash is your everyday guy who makes his living being a handyman. He is happily married and has a child on the way. He is content living in the small town of Sawyer, Pennsylvania. He drives a beater pick-up truck that he just bought. When John Mellencamp sang “Pink Houses” he was singing about somebody like Tom Nash.

Except that Tom Nash has one extraordinary ability, at times, when people are in deep trouble, he can hear their prayers for help and he is compelled to help them. At first it is simple tasks, such as helping a suicidal teacher fight alcoholism, etc. But one night a truly desperate prayer that hits him so hard that it wakes him from his sleep…”Please, God…don’t let them kill me.”

All Tom knows is that the prayer came from a little girl and she is somewhere in New York City. So Tom jumps into his truck and heads to New York on a mission to this unknown young girl.

We learn that Tom is Seeker. A Seeker is a person that hears other people’s prayers and tries to help them out. It is a very dangerous profession and many are killed. A Seeker also has one additional ability that is different and unique to that individual. Tom eventually learns his special ability and it comes in very handy during the story.

In the world created by David Mack there are essentially two factions fighting each other; the Called and the Scorned. The reasons for the conflict is never really explained exceptt it is the typical good vs. evil. The Called fight for the side of the good and the Scorned for the dark side. There are other ranks above the Seekers, for example the Sages are the people who are in charged; the Seers can distinguish between who are the Called and who are the Scorned; the Sentinels guard people, places and things. This may sound complicated at first but it becomes second nature as the story rolls on. Mr. Mack also does an interesting thing; he just gives the reader the mere basic outline and does not perform an info dump explaining every detail of his world. By the end of story you will have many more questions than answers as to the reason behind conflict, the individuals who fight in the conflict, etc. This piqued my curiosity for future novels to learn more about this world Mr. Mack has created.

By the story outline you would assume that the novel is overtly religious. In my opinion it is no more religious than your typical Urban Fantasy novel that involves angels and demons as a plot device. Heck, even one of the good Seekers question the existence of God.

I really enjoyed the plotting of this novel. It follows the investigation into child kidnapping with added supernatural elements. Tom Nash is kinda like the Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) character in the movie Gone Baby Gone. He exists out the system of law which allows him to follow clues without worrying to much about police procedure. His only goal is to find the missing child and nothing will stop him. He is also not all powerful. Numerous times he gets kicked around suffering real world consequences and bruises. By the end of the novel I really came to like Tom Nash as a character.

Mr. Mack is a master of writing action sequences. He wrote some of the most memorable starship battles in his Star Trek novels. This ability also shines through in The Calling. There is one scene in a subway station that involves a running gunfight that is so well done that it honestly felt like I was watching movie. He is able to keep the tension at a high level for the entire sequence which is difficult chore in a novel.

The only real quibbles I have with the story were some of the clichéd elements. For example, there is a scene at the end that has been used way to often in novels and movies that it came as no surprise. I would have liked a smarter resolution to the ending.

As an Urban Fantasy novel this is one of the better ones that I have read. The story has the no nonsense style of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden character and mixes it with the mystery of a Dennis Lehane novel.

Authors Website: David Mack

To discuss this book, please visit Robots and Vamps Book Club